His True Destiny: Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Sixteen: The Reunion By the time Sparrow returned, Reaver had hired Barnum to take his picture with his picture box. At first Reaver was cynical about it the device and how it could capture a person’s exact features, but then he merely shrugged and reminded himself that over the past few centuries he had seen weirder thing come about. That was how Sparrow found Barnum and Reaver talking when she returned from Wraithmarsh. She was very jumpy and desired nothing less than a long hot bath to remove the filth that desecrated her body. ‘And you’re sure it will look exactly like me?’ Reaver asked Barnum as he sheltered his pistol on his left leg. Barnum had taken the picture just before Sparrow had entered. ‘Exactly like you, sir,’ Barnum replied confidently. ‘In three months the picture will be developorised and –‘ ‘Three months?’ Reaver laughed humourlessly. ‘That’s no good.’ He swiftly withdrew his Dragonstomper .48 again, and killed Barnum before turning his attention back to his descendant. He saw that she hadn’t aged a bit. He smirked. ‘I see you are a clever girl,’ he said, sheltering his pistol. ‘You must have followed my instructions and took someone with you.’ ‘I did,’ Sparrow said, ‘and I discovered that you are the brother from the tale my Guide told me about the destruction of Oakvale.’ ‘I will not deny it,’ Reaver replied, before going to the door and ordering someone to dispose of Barnum’s body. He then turned back to Sparrow and changed the subject. ‘Now, most of the time I do not keep my word, but on this rare occasion, I will. Tomorrow I will follow you to wherever and help you defeat Lucien. I will have a maid show you to where you can bathe and where you can spend the night.’ ‘Thank you, Reaver,’ Sparrow said gratefully. She would kill to bathe right now. That night, the pair ended up having dinner together, though Sparrow noticed that Reaver didn’t touch anything on his plate. Instead, he sat there staring thoughtfully out a nearby window with a chalice of wine in his hand. He was uncomfortable, and not because he knew his descendant, who was oblivious to being his descendant, was staring at him. No, he was uneasy because he had no idea what Theresa was playing at. Was she leading the girl before him blindly to her death, or was she manipulating her for a different reason? Whatever it was, Reaver found himself caught up in it again. He knew that he should have just broken his word to the girl, telling her to get out of his house, but he couldn’t. How could he say no to someone who reminded him of what he used to be? These thoughts haunted him until he fell into an uneasy sleep. Then, a few hours later, just before sunrise, he was abruptly awoken by an earth moving tremor. Leaping ungracefully out of bed, the shirtless Reaver ran onto his balcony and saw giant shards transporting an army of Spire soldiers onto his costal paradise. He also saw one of his men running towards the manor. ‘Norman, what’s going on?’ Rowan yelled down at him. ‘The city’s under attack by a bloody army!’ the man yelled back. I’m surrounded by idiots, Rowan thought before saying, ‘I can see that. What do they want?’ ‘You! The guy in charge is yelling at his men, “Find this Reaver”!’ ‘Thought so,’ Reaver muttered, running back into his room and throwing on a light shirt and shoes, before grabbing old Avo’s Tear and Dragonstomper .48. With these in hand, he ran to where Sparrow was staying. He knocked on the door and entered, only to find her completely dressed and hair perfect. ‘What’s happening?’ she asked calmly, while Reaver wondered how she managed to make herself look so perfect so fast. ‘Your friend, Lucien is attacking the city,’ Rowan informed her, grabbing her wrist and pulling her from the room. ‘He is after me and once he knows you are here, he will be after you too.’ ‘So what should we do?’ Sparrow asked, following Reaver into his back room. ‘Well, I suggest that we flee down this rather handy escape tunnel,’ he replied as he pulled on one of his books in one of his bookcases. The bookcase moved aside to reveal a hidden passage way that looked rather dark and creepy. ‘Are you sure there are no other options,’ Sparrow asked hopefully. ‘Well you can always surrender to them or go out and fight them, but those options would likely lead to your death,’ Reaver said, entering the passage. Sparrow hesitantly entered after him. She then clung to his arm as he closed the passage. ‘Set fire to this, would you,’ Reaver said, holding out a torch. ‘I don’t have a match.’ ‘Are you or are you not a Will user? Use the Inferno spell to light the torch.’ ‘Oh, right.’ Sparrow did as Reaver said. With the torch lit, the old Hero led her through the dark tunnels. The entire time she clung to his free arm. And she calls herself a Hero, Reaver thought. She would have never made it as a Hero back when the Guild was around. ‘Smugglers built these tunnels ages ago,’ Reaver informed Sparrow, trying to take her mind off whatever was scaring her. ‘I don’t think they’ve been used for about three hundred years.’ Sparrow shuddered at that. Who knew what was lurking in the dark labyrinth? ‘Oh no, wait a minute now,’ Reaver said when he realised he was mistaken. ‘I came through here in… That’s right, I was consorting with Ursula at the time and Penelope found out.’ ‘What did she do when she found out?’ asked Sparrow. ‘She set the house on fire while I was sleeping,’ Reaver said casually as though it was no big deal. ‘With Andrew, as I recall. That would have been two hundred years ago.’ As the pair came to an abandon mine, the cavern wall opposite them was blasted open and Lucien’s men enter the mine, weapons at the ready. ‘I won’t even ask how they found this place,’ Reaver sighed as he casually began to kill them with ease. He found that guns were definitely ten times better than bows. They were quicker and easier to use. ‘So much for a nice walk through the labyrinth, hey,’ he added to Sparrow when all the guards were dead. Sparrow was beyond impressed with Reaver’s skills. They were unnatural and she had seen no equal. There was no doubt in her mind that Reaver was the Hero of Skill she was after. Lucien’s men ended up appearing several more times during their journey, and each time, Reaver took care of them as though he was merely swatting away flies. Sparrow figured that he must have had a lot of practice to be that good, but then she reminded herself that he was six hundred years old. When the pair came to the end of the Smugglers’ Caves, they exited onto a beach with a dock and a ship anchored at the dock. Hammer and Garth were there waiting for them. 'She was right. They're here!' Hammer exclaimed, catching sight of Sparrow and Reaver. 'Good to see you again. Hope we didn't miss too much.' 'Besides fighting banshees, hollow men, trolls, shadows and Lucien's men, no, you two didn't miss a thing,' Sparrow snapped. ‘Because of you two, my boots, skirt and tunic are ruined!’ 'Are all the soldiers gone?' Garth asked, choosing to ignore Sparrow’s comment. Meanwhile, Reaver was still thinking about what a drama queen his descendant was. He was sure that she was spoilt as a child. 'How am I supposed to know?’ Sparrow said with a lot of insolence and attitude in her voice. 'I hope they've gone far away,' Hammer muttered, ignoring Sparrow. Theresa had advised her and Garth to ignore her when she was like this. 'I don't know how much more killing I can stand. Balverines and bandits behind every rock and tree, and every one I kill two more take its place.' 'This is all quite fascinating,' Reaver said, sounding quite bored, but that was because he was. These people before him weren’t Heroes. They were whiners. 'I'm… I'm touched, and I'm leaving,' he added as he began to walk away from the other Heroes. He then stopped and turned to face the cave. 'Oh yes. Three, two, one...' Next minute there was an explosion just inside the cave's mouth and the entrance caved in. 'And any other lurking nasties in the tunnel now have a bit of a headache,' Reaver said casually, though he had a note of satisfaction in his voice, 'which means I just saved us all.’ ‘But not from that Shard,’ Garth said as Reaver’s ship was blown to pieces by a Great Shard. 'Just never enough,' Hammer muttered. Reaver quickly took in the expressions on the other Heroes' faces. It was the same look he wore when he used to fight Jack of Blades’ minions. 'I'm beginning to assume that this happens to you on a regular basis,' he commented. 'Oh no, having a giant shard attack us is new,' Sparrow answered as Lucien's men were appearing. 'But have Lucien's men come out of them… that's just getting old.' Reaver chuckled, as he began shooting every soldier he could, while Hammer sent them flying with her hammer, Garth electrocuted them. Sparrow, however, merely watched, though any that were foolish enough to come near her, she sent flying back. 'Cover me,' Garth yelled as he ran up a nearby hill to get closer to the shard. 'There must be away to expose its vulnerable spot. I know it has one.' 'And how are we to do that?' Hammer demanded as she fought off a vicious attack from a Commandant. 'Old Kingdom artefacts responded to the Will,' Garth explained. 'I just have to find the right one,' he added, before sending different types of spells at it and muttering to himself. 'There must be a way… Nothing seems to work, unless… long sustained attacks. It is the only way to bring it down.' 'Then start electrocuting it!' Reaver ordered as one of the Commandants sent a trail of spikes at him. 'The shard is shooting, watch out!' Hammer yelled. The Heroes quickly dodged its attack. 'And when it shoots, it is weak,' Garth exclaimed. 'We must attack it, while it's exposed.' 'Right,' said Reaver, immediately taking charge. ‘I’m going over to that other hill and when it goes to attack, I’ll shoot it! Hero of Strength, I need you to watch my back!' Hammer nodded her understanding. ‘Sparrow, stay here with Garth. You need to watch his back.' ‘If I must,’ Sparrow groaned, not looking too thrilled with the idea. ‘You must!’ Reaver said firmly. ‘Let’s go,’ he added to Hammer. He then ran off, shooting anyone that got in his way, and occasionally using Avo’s Tear, with Hammer right behind him. It took Garth several attempts to get the Shard to attack again, but when it did, Reaver, attacked its venerable spot before it closed up again. So, once again, Garth worked on getting it to attack, before he and Sparrow hurried out of the way of its fire. Thankfully, Reaver was still able to attack it and ended up destroying it. The Heroes went and met each other down on the beach, in between the two hills. 'We did it!' Garth exclaimed gleefully. 'Now that's teamwork!' Hammer agreed, just as cheerfully. 'Yes, such fun,' Reaver agreed. He had enjoyed himself. It reminded him of the good old days. However, Reaver’s smile immediately disappeared when Theresa appeared next to him. ‘Hello, Reaver,' she said softly. ‘Theresa,’ he replied stiffly. ‘Right, now that the enemy is gone, I’m leaving.’ He turned to walk away. ‘What? But you gave me your word that you would help me!’ Sparrow whined at him, not finding it weird that he knew who Theresa was. ‘That was before she appeared,’ Reaver said, turning to look at the other Heroes, but more specifically, Theresa. ‘I told you not to drag me into anything when you took my Guild Seal, but yet again you have.’ ‘I haven’t dragged you into anything,’ replied Theresa. ‘You could have easily walked away from Sparrow, yet you decided to help her knowing too well who she was and that I was likely to be nearby. You did this willingly.’ Reaver clicked his tongue in annoyance. She had him there. ‘Are you two related?’ Hammer asked suddenly, looking between the pair. ‘What makes you say that?’ Reaver asked sharply. ‘You look both have similar features,’ replied Garth. Neither of the siblings answered the question, instead Reaver said, ‘Right, I’m off.’ He turned and began to walk off. ‘Rowan,’ Theresa said firmly, making Reaver stop in his tracks. With the use of Reaver’s real name, Garth and Hammer were pretty much convinced that they were related. Sparrow, however, wasn’t listening as their conversation had nothing to do with her. Instead, she stood there examining her nails. 'Listen to me,' Theresa continued urgently. 'If you do not help us Lucien will control the world and every person within it.' 'Well, he's welcome to them. People are, a bit over rated, don't you find?' Reaver shrugged. ‘Then you will you send to the Shadow Court?’ Theresa demanded. ‘The enemy is still to come, little brother.’ 'Argh, very well. Alright, yes, I will help you,' Reaver growled, walking back to them. 'And after that there is a good chance I will kill you, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it,' the pirate warned, before adding. 'So, what now, sister?’ 'Now, we must gather at the Circle of Heroes,' Theresa informed the four Heroes before her. 'The ritual we are to perform there shall provide us with the weapon we need to defeat Lucien.' 'Hmm, that sounds like a barrel of laughs,' Reaver said, before muttering, ‘Why couldn’t Jack have cut out your tongue? I think I would have preferred it if you were mute.’ ‘I heard that,’ Theresa surprisingly snapped. ‘That was the point.’ 'So how are we getting back to Hero Hill?' Hammer asked, preventing a sibling argument from erupting. She would have loved to question Theresa and Reaver about their sibling relationship, but she didn’t think it was a good idea. 'Are you teleporting us there, Theresa?' 'No, you will have to work together to find your own way there,' and with that said, Theresa than teleported herself away. 'And how are we supposed to do that?' Hammer demanded. 'It's not like we have a ship, seeing as Reaver's was destroyed and ours decided that they didn't want to wait and just dumped us here!' 'Reaver, is there any way off this beach?' asked Garth, turning to the steaming pirate. 'Yes, but it is difficult,' replied Reaver. 'If we climb that cliff, it will lead us to one of the far sides of Wraithmarsh. Then, if we travel through the marshes, on the other side there is a cullis gate, though I'm not sure if it still works.' 'That's no problem. I could probably start it up again,' Garth said confidently. 'Well, it's a plan,' muttered Hammer. 'I don't know why Theresa didn't just teleport us with her.' ‘She was just being difficult,’ Reaver informed her. ‘My sister is manipulative old hag!’ He then jumped and drew his pistol, turning to face Sparrow when she screamed. Garth and Hammer prepared themselves for an attack too. ‘What’s wrong?’ Reaver demanded, looking around for trouble. ‘I broke a nail at some point!’ Sparrow exclaimed. Reaver looked beyond annoyed. ‘Is she always like this?’ he demanded to the other two Heroes. ‘Pretty much,’ Hammer answered. ‘Avo, give me strength,’ Reaver grumbled. ‘Sparrow, forget about your petty broken nail and get up!’ ‘Where are we going?’ Sparrow asked, hastily getting to her feet. Reaver was scary when he was angry. ‘We’re climbing up this cliff and then going through Wraithmarsh.’ ‘But that cliff is so high!’ Sparrow howled. ‘And I don’t want to go through Wraithmarsh!’ ‘I don’t care what you want! Now get your arse up that cliff and into Wraithmarsh!’ With that said Reaver stormed over to the cliff, grumbling saying that he should have killed Theresa with the Sword of Aeons when he had the chance, and began to climb it with ease. Garth struggled up after him, while poor Hammer was left to carry the stubborn Sparrow up. Written: 24 February 2013